Ready for action?
Resources
Web links
Downloadable Resources
Tangible Resources
Cooking oil, water, household items which may be used to clean up oil, an apple core, leaves, plastic packaging, Styrofoam, celery, jar/beaker, food dye, jars with lid x8 per group, clean water, matches, moss/grass/mud, man-made dirt (i.e. street dust), baking soda, pen.
Preparation
Prepare example buried object, prepare where to bury items, prepare jars and collect materials that won’t be sources on school grounds, prepare activity sheet to record what students can see, hear and smell.
Goals, messages & concepts
Specific goals
- To see what pollution can look like.
- To understand that there are different types of pollution.
Specific messages
- There are different types of pollution.
- Some pollution can be seen whilst others cannot.
Main terms
- pollution
- oil spill
- biodegrade
- senses
Practices & skills
STEM practices
- Analysing and interpreting data
- Constructing explanations and designing solutions
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
- Asking questions and defining problems
- Planning and carrying out investigations
Soft skills
- Teamwork and collaboration
Management skills
- Planning
- Use of resources
Course of activity
step 1
A carousel of investigations, incorporating the 5 senses, will be set up for the students:
- Oil spill simulation - The activity requires students to simulate an oil spill in a tray of water, examine the potential effects on wildlife, and suggest clean-up methods using household items.
- Real-World Testing of Biodegradability - This involves burying a range of objects (apple core, leaves, plastic packaging, and Styrofoam) beneath the ground and leaving them there for a month. Students then return to the burial site and dig down to see what has broken down and what has not. The teacher will bury 2 example objects in advance to show students what happens over a longer period of time, within the learning scenario timeframe.
- Modelling Pollution Uptake by Plants Using Celery - To complete this activity, place a piece of celery in a jar or beaker of diluted food dye. Over time, the food dye moves up the celery, and there it remains. The food dye represents pollution, and the celery represents plants that are used for food.
- Polluted Display Jars –
- Jar of water: fill 2 jars with water, then contaminate one with dirt and bits of plastic.
- Jar of air: take 2 jars. An adult should drop a lit match into one jar, and quickly put the lid on, so that the smoke is caught in the jar (also ask the students what they can smell).
- Jar of snow: Make snow dough, divide in 2 and roll some on the ground in the street to contaminate. Display a clear jar and a polluted one.
- Jar of earth: fill one jar with clean grass, moss, mud or other natural materials. Fill another with man-made dirt and damaged plants (i.e. dead moss) collected from a polluted area.
step 2
The students will then fill out a sheet to show how they think the pollution affects themselves and their environment.